[Sundae]

I have a very unreliable moral compass.
I really do try to match mores and morays of those I am with at the time, but it's a facade; I'm not actually feeling it, babe.

I think it came from my family. I've tried to change what I inherited, but then end up only paying lip service to ideals, or waiting to see what other people's reactions are before deciding my own actions.

My grandparents robbed their employers of leftover food and drink during the War.
They were not entitled to it, it was not condoned or even winked at. Because if you allow people to start taking food that will otherwise be wasted, said people will find ways to deliberately waste it.

My Dad brought home books for us for years when he worked as a printer. The books were rejects - poorly cut or glued etc. They could not be sold, but were instead re-pulped. It was the re-pulping bin Dad retrieved them from. See above for the reason it was not condoned by the management. Although in the end the ultimate Manager was Robert "What Pension Fund?" Maxwell, that's retrospective justification.

We were taught that stealing was wrong, but taking advantage was not. There was a air of "Well, if they're stupid enough to leave it..." Outright theft was illegal, but hooky gear was a faceless crime. It was okay to buy something from a bloke down the pub, as long as he'd lifted it from where he worked, not someone else's house.

Dad hated the Great Train Robbers because they killed a man.
They'd have been okay in his book otherwise. My Uncles despised the Krays because they were mad and violent, not because they were criminal and violent. It was okay to look after your own, but mental illness was beyond the pale.

I'd probably sneak a bit of candy if I fancied it and had no cash on me.
I wouldn't short-change the tomato man and I certainly wouldn't rob from the money already there.

But I am the person who took the money from the ATM that time (Cellar post under Anonymous a while back)
And that was someone's personal money. And they might really, really have needed it. That's a lot of tomatoes.